Nine in 10 parents in the UK support an under-16 social media ban, but the feeling among the children it would affect is more mixed. Or at least it is for a group of 10 preteens and teenagers who talked to the Guardian at a location in west London this week.<\/p>\n
The 12- to 16-year-olds were well versed in the debate, with a set of views ranging from mandatory time limits to tougher controls and a full ban for under-16s. All those options have been under consideration<\/a> in a government consultation on children\u2019s online safety that is due to deliver an outcome next week, with an under-16 age limit expected for \u201chigh-risk\u201d platforms, and restrictions on features such as livestreaming for others.<\/p>\n Precisa, 13, is on TikTok and Instagram<\/a>, but not for the usual reasons: she runs a roll-on deodorant business in her spare time and uses those platforms for marketing. Snapchat is her main app for personal use \u2013 largely messaging.<\/p>\n Precisa primarily uses TikTok and Instagram to promote her roll-on deodorant business. Photograph: Jill Mead\/The Guardian<\/p>\n \u201cIt will definitely be much, much harder to [run the business] without those apps to help me,\u201d she says. Precisa is also deputy youth mayor of the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and says social media plays an important role in publicising the youth council\u2019s work.<\/p>\n Precisa thinks a blanket ban is not the answer anyway. Instead, she believes there should be tougher monitoring of harmful content and limits on screen time.<\/p>\n The consultation isn\u2019t just weighing up a ban. It is also looking at curbing various app features, such as autoplaying video and infinite scrolling, as well as introducing other restrictions such as screen time limits.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it would be much better if it was controlled more or monitored, because there\u2019s a lot of people posting very inappropriate things, even on TikTok<\/a>,\u201d Precisa says.<\/p>\n Zoe, 14, does not use social media much apart from Snapchat<\/a>, and her parents proscribe access to any other platforms apart from WhatsApp. When she is 15 she will be allowed to access more apps. Zoe says she does not support a ban because she feels parental controls are sufficient, but says when she starts using social media more fully she would want to feel safe.<\/p>\n She does not like the idea of personalised algorithms<\/a> sending specifically tailored content. \u201cThat does feel like an invasion of privacy,\u201d she says. The consultation<\/a> is considering age restrictions on personalised algorithms.<\/p>\n Four of the 12-year-olds in the group have one unifying theme that may resonate with parents of preteens: they watch YouTube. Although the site carries an age limit of 13, like all big social platforms, it allows children to watch with a parent-supervised YouTube account, which comes with age-appropriate content.<\/p>\n None of the children who mention YouTube Kids, the version of the site for under-12s, seem to be fans of it. \u201cIt\u2019s just random cartoons, clips and stuff,\u201d says one.<\/p>\n